No One Here Gets Out Alive
by Erica St. Evergreen
Summary: Hazel Aden was found dead in her bed on May 23rd, 2006. She died in the most perculiar way imaginable. Inspired by the book "The Wicked Heart" by Christopher Pike. OOC
1. Chapter 1

Hazel's body was found by her brother, Gabriel Aden with as he described a huge hole in her head that looks as though it been smashed in. Gabriel said there was no blood, no footprints in the carpet, or any noticable evidence--just hisdead sister lying in her bed with a dreamy expression on her face and a huge hole in her head.

There was no doubt that Hazel was beautiful and well liked and known--even if she had been Paige's shadow. People liked her because she was _nice_--something that Paige Michaelchuck never could be. Hazel always had an understanding and friendly look about her. She had such a great personality you could possibly never think that someone would kill her.

Except mayber her best friend, Paige, of course.

It was close to midnight, a few hours after Hazel's murder, when the police came to Paige's house. Paige's room is located on the first floor of the Michaelchuck's two-story home, so naturally, she answered the door.

"Paige Michaelchuck?" asked the officer.

"Yeah huh," she yawned, stretching her arms out a bit as she tried to wake herself up.

You are under arrest as a suspected murderer--"

"_Murderer!?_" shrieked Paige.

"Of Hazel Aden," finished the officer. "We received information that you were the last person to see Miss Aden. You have the right to remain si--"

"I'm only sixteen! Haze is my best friend!"

Paiges parents came downstairs then, asking who was at the door at this time of night. They were oblivious to the fact that their one and only daughter was being arretsed for murder. The officer explained to Paiges parents what was going on while handcuffing Paige. Paige's parents were shocked and appalled when the found out that she was a suspect in murder.

"But Mom! Daddy! I didn't do it!" Paige cried, but her parents didn't know whether to believe her or not.

They let her be whisked away in the cop car to the police station.


	2. Chapter 2

**chapter two**

At the police station, Paige was in some room with grimy, dirty walls with no windows except for the one in the door--and even that was cut glass. She was sitting at an old wooden table with two fold-open chairs, one of them she was sitting in. Paige wasn't going to pretend that she wasn't scared, she was definately scared. She just found out that her best friend is dead at the same time she was being accused for doing such a heinous crime.

A young, nice looking cop walked in the room, shaking Paige out of her trans. He didn't look like the officer that arrested her--that guy had a pudgy gut with thinning hair. This guy looked like he just joined th forced. He had shiny black hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. If Paige wasn't afraid of being thrown in the slammer, she would've found the cop attractive, she does like older men after all.

"You're Paige Michaelchuck?" asked the nice-looking cop.

She nodded then gulped, "Yes."

"I'm Officer Jake, Paige. I'm suppose to question you about yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah. Its," he checked his watch, "one thirty-seven in the morning. It's technically the twenty-fourth of May, dig it?"

Paige almost laughed. She'd never heard anyone of authority say "dig it" but yet, she never been arrested either. "Yeah. Okay," she said.

"Is it okay if I interrogate you without a lawyer present?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to record you during this interrogation," said Officer jake, turning on his tape recorder. He said the time, the date, who he was, and who he was interrogating. "Ch-check one, two. Ch-ch-check it out, yeahh." he said in the recorder, as though he were rapping.

Officer Jake was about to play it back when Paige said, "are you trying to butter me up or something?" She sounded slightly annoted, though she didn't want to lose her temper in front of an officer, "because it's not working, Officer Jake," she added politely.

Officer Jake cleared his throat. "Alright, so were you the last person to see Hazel Aden?"

"I think so," answered Paige.

"What do you mean 'think?'"

"I'm not going say yes when I don't know who came in after me," she answered.

"So, you're saying tha Hazel was planning to have more people comeover?" he asked. "Was she plnning a party or a get together?"

"No, I'm saying that I am not going to take the title of 'Last Person to See Hazel Alive' when anyone could've been the last person to see her.

"Her parents said you were the last persin to see. . . " dragged out Officer Jake.

"How? They're out of town."

"We took certain precautions to get in touch with Mr and Mrs. Aden and they confirmed that you were the last person there. Is it true they called while you were there?"

"Yes. They were checking up on her and her brother."

"Why were you at the Aden's residence, anyway?"

"Hazel wanted me to comeover to talk about Jimmy. They were arguing--no wait, they were in a _disagreement_. Jimmy and Haze never argued according to her--about this guy, Rick, in her Chemistry class. They're just lab partners but Jimmy thinks theres more going on between them or something. He's jealous, I guess. But Haze wanted me to give her advice," explained Paige.

"Who's Rick?" Officer Jake asked, curiously. You could tell by thelook on his face that this was the first time that Rick was brought up.

"I don't know, he's new."

"Do you think that this Rick dude was in-love with Hazel?"

Paige snorted. "I don't know about love. But everyone likes Hazel, so I don't see why not him."

Officer Jake stared at Paige sideways. He felt as though he were on to something. "Were you ever jealous of Hazel?"

"No," said Paige immediately. "You're obviously mistaken me for someone name Jimmy Brooks."

"I'm sensing some hostility."

"Damn right you are1 Why are you asking _me_ if _Rick_ was in-love with Haze? Why don't you ask Rick? Why aren't you questioning her brother either?" Paige asked, her anger rising. Obviously Officer Jake hit a spot when he asked her if she was ever jealous of Hazel.

"What amkes you thnk we haven't already?"

"The fact that you're blaming me for a crime that I didn't even do!" she screamed. "I was Hazel's best friend. I would have never _dreamed_ of killing her, let alone follow through with it!"

"For you, Hazel's brother, I'm sure you know him, Gabriel Aden, found your so-called best friend and his older sister in her bed with a huge, smashed in hole in her head. Not a trace of blood, no shoe prints, no hair, Nothing. Not any noticable evidence." Officer Jake pressed his finger against the space between the eyebrows. "Just a dead body, with a huge hole between her eyes."

Paige stared at Officer Jake with tears in her eyes. Bad enough she had to find out her bets friend was murdered at the same time she was being accused for it. Now she had to know how she was murdered in detail? She didn't really appreciate that.

Before Paige could say anything, Officer Jake spoke up. "Look, Paige, I now this is hard for you. But you have to understand that I'm trying to get my job done here, dig it?"

She nodded. He turned off the tape recorder.

"So," said Officer Jake. "Here's what I'm going to do. It's nearly three int he mrning, so I'm going to release you and call you back in something this weekend for further interrogation."

Again, Paige nodded. Officer Jake lef her out the room, then called a taxi for her and sent her home.


	3. Chapter 3

**chapter three**

The next day at school, Paige literally felt like shit. Her best friend's dead, she's being blamed for the murder, and she barely got two hours of sleep last night. Paige kept having this nightmare, maybe you can even say a strangely horrific dream, that the hole in Hazel's head was talking to her, asking her why she would do such a thing. Everytime Paige would try to declare her innocence, the hole would laugh--accidently spitting out blood and bits of brain in the proccess--and would try to bite Paige.

It was the worst dream Paige ever had.

Before school started, Paige saw Rick sitting in the library as she walked passed it. She decided that she should talk to Rick, she wondered how well Rick knew Hazel and if he knew that she is dead.

Paige sat next to Rick, who was really into the book he was reading. "Hey, Rick," said Paige.

Rick jumped. "Oh, uh, hi Paige. You look tired."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

Paige got straight to the point. "You know, Hazel, right? She died last night." Her voice broke, "Someone broke into her house an-and killed her."

Rick stared at Paige as she broke down, crying silently to herself. He'd never thought he'd see Degrassi's Queen Bee fall apart like this, especially in front of him. _I'm not anyone special_, Rick thought,_ Why is she telling _me_ this_? Instead, "That's... That's terrible. She was in my Chem class. I thought she was really nice."

Paige wiped her tears and nodded. "Yeah, we were best friends, did you know that?"

Rick shooked his head.

Paige half smiled. "Yeah, we were. And I think she thought you were nice too."

Rick vigorously shook his head. "No, she is dating Jimmy. We were just Chem partners."

But Paige could tell that Rick liked the thought of Hazel Aden liking him. "Oh please. Haze talked about you all the time, she wouldn't shut up about you. I got annoying sometimes." Paige fabricated.

Rick laughed nervously. "I doubt that, Paige."

"Are you doubting me? I was her best friend," said Paige, defiantly.

Rick backed down. It got quiet between them. Rick continued to read his book.

"I got blamed for her murder," said Paige, out of nowhere.

Rick didn't know how to respond to that, so he said, "I'm sorry. I don't understand why anyne would blame you for Hazel's murder..."

"Me either," she sighed. The bell rang for school to start. "Well, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, maybe."


	4. Chapter 4

**chapter three**

While walking to class, Paige couldn't understand why everyone was so . . . _happy_. All these people knew and loved Hazel, right? Paige thought, _this is _Degrassi_ for God sakes, everyone should know_. But no one seemed to know or care except Rick and maybe Gabriel and Jimmy. She wouldn't be surprised if she saw Gabriel at school today, or even for the rest of the semester. She wouldn't come to school if she found her brothers dead body. Paige knew it must take years of therapy to recover from.

Her first class was Sociology, a complete BS class for sophomores who weren't exactly ready for psychology and wanted to get an easy credit. Paige liked this class because all they did was sit and talk about certain issues. There was hardly any writing in the class and they would talk about anything. Nothing goes un-said in this class and Ms. Sauve supported Freedom of Speech highly, so they were allowed to say whatever they want, however they want, which was why Paige liked this class so much.

Although, Paige wasn't interested in what anyone had to say today. She didn't want to say anything either. Until Ms. Sauve brought up something interesting.

"_The Wicked Heart_," she said, holding up a book. "A book by the elusive Christopher Pike." Ms. Sauve's class looked at her confused. "Let me explain. Dusty Shame, a high school senior in California. He's a good kid, gets decent grades, but he's a murderer. He has this unique style of killing; he smashed his victims head in with a ball-pun hammer, takes their body out in the desert and buries them in a cave. He leaves no such evidence except a swastika card," she paused. "What do you guys think of that?" She asked with a slight smile.

The class immediately busted into a discussion on how cruel and interesting and genius that was. Which led to a intense conversation about Nazi's and concentration camps. Ms. Sauve even read a part out of the book and once again asked the class what they thought about it.

But Paige was thinking _that's how Hazel was murdered!_ Does this mean that Ms. Sauve killed Hazel? I mean, she is the student counselor and a therapist outside of school. Surely, hearing everyone's problems will take some toll on her to make her finally snap. It's just too much of a coincidence that she would bring up the context of this book a day after Hazel's murder. Paige immediately began to suspect her. _Look at her, pretending to be some sort of investigator_.

Class ended and Ms. Sauve asked to speak with her. "Paige, is something wrong? You didn't speak a word in my class and you're usually my most talkative student." She stared at her with that concerning look in her eyes that often burns when she's talking to a student she's worried about.

Paige shook her head. "No, not really. I really wasn't in a talkative mood."

Ms. Sauve stared at Paige harder than before. Paige would hate when Ms. Sauve scrutinized her like this, she did it all the time when Ms. Sauve was helping her deal with her rape. But now, the stare was kind of starting to scare her. "If there's anything you want to talk about, Paige. You know who to come to."

_Definitely not you,_ thought Paige, but instead, "Of course, Ms. Sauve.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter four**

Paige's next class was Chemistry. Usually between classes, Paige and Hazel would meet in front of the school mural. Hazel would tell Paige what they did in that class, because they both had the same teacher Ms. Hatsilakos. Paige even waited at the school calendar for Hazel for a few seconds before remember that she's dead. Paige almost cried.

Even though Hazel was never in Paige's Chemistry class, Jimmy always was. Paige and Jimmy have always been friends, even before Hazel came into the mix. So, she knew how distraught Jimmy would be when she walked into class.

Paige sat next to Jimmy. "How are you taking it?"

"I miss her already. . ." he replied in a low, sad voice.

"Me too."

"We were arguing the day she. . ." he couldn't say it.

"You guys weren't arguing, you were in a disagreement," Paige joked.

How could she joke about something so serious?

But Jimmy smiled. "Yeah. Hazel never argued. I was there, at her house last night. The 'disagreement' just kept getting worst and we were yelling at each other and then. . ."

Paige stared at Jimmy intensely. "What?" Was he going to confess?

"I just left. That was the last time I saw her. And I feel so bad now taking any of her bullshit anymore. I swear, Paige, I was going to apologize to her today about the whole thing before I found out. . ."

Paige put her arm around Jimmy, feeling slightly guilty. "Everything will be alright. Soon the cops will find the guy who killed Hazel and it'll be done."

"I want to find the guy," said Jimmy through gritted teeth. "So I can kill the bastard."

That's when Miss Hatsilakos came into the class and immediately dived into something that Paige completely did not understand. She found it a complete blur that made time go by so slowly.

Finally, the bell rang and Paige went to lunch after saying goodbye to Jimmy.

Paige sits with people that Hazel considered to be her really close friends. They were naturally fun people and they would always poke fun at Hazel for being "the Token Black Girl" of the group. Even as Paige was sitting with them, she noticed that they seemed happier than they should. Unless, of course, they didn't know that Hazel is dead yet and they simply thought she was ditching school today. It made Paige even sadder.

At the end of the school day, Paige was walking to her car when Gabriel Aden came up to her. Paige was absolute surprised when she saw Gabriel because she expected him not to come to school at all.

"Surprised to see me?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, I didn't think you would come to school after--"

"After _what_?" he asked angrily.

"Well, after you found--"

"My sister, _your_ so-called best friend's dead body?'

"Why are you mad at me?" Paige exclaimed, furious that he would even be approaching her like this.

"Don't act like you don't know.

"I didn't _kill_, Hazel, Gabe, if that's what you're thinking!"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking!" he yelled back. "You were the last person to see her!"

"What? You can't be serious! What do you think I did? Tell her to close her eyes and smash her head in?"

"I don't know, _is_ that what you did?"

"NO!" screamed Paige. "I DIDN'T KILL HAZEL, OKAY? LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" Paige got in her car after shoving Gabriel out of the way. In returned he kicked her door close, nearly smashing her leg. Paige started her car, then rolled down her window, "And if you must know. _Jimmy_ was the last one to see Hazel, not me." Then she drove off, practically running Gabriel over, feeling the most angry she's ever felt in a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Paige got home; her parents wouldn't look her in the eye, or even in her direction. Paige was convincing that they didn't even notice when she put her key in the door to unlock it. Paige sighed heavily and wished her big brother was here to comfort her. Maybe he would understand what she was going through.

Paige started on her Chemistry homework. It took her a little over an hour to get half way through her homework because she had to keep looking in her textbook for help. She didn't take notes during class, her mind was wrapped around Hazel, Hazel's dead body, _the Wicked Heart_ and how Ms. Sauvé had brought it up _the very next day that Hazel died_. Paige thought it was too much of a coincidence just to blow it off. Something in her gut just told her that Ms. Sauvé killed Hazel in her sleep.

_But why?_

Maybe Ms. Sauvé and Jimmy were having an affair and Hazel was in the way? Or was it the other way around and Hazel was having an affair with Mr. Sauvé? Weren't they having problems once upon a time? Or was he just sick? And where would Hazel have met Ms. Sauvé's husband anyway?

"Get a grip, Paige. You're losing it," Paige said to herself. She decided to go to the bathroom and splash some cold water on her face. On her way to back to her room, she heard her parents arguing in hushed voices on who should tell Paige that it was time for dinner. Paige just took herself downstairs for a very silent dinner. Any conversation that they did have was forced.

Paige's parents were oblivious to her feelings. They didn't see her as a girl who lost her best friend. They saw a girl who killed her best friend. Why? _Oh, didn't Paige have a crush on Jimmy or something? No, honey that was Spinner, Hazel was probably in Paige's way somehow for something and she just had to get rid of her. Where did we go wrong?_ Paige's parents didn't care about her feelings. They didn't see their daughter as the developing depressed and disturbed girl that she was becoming. They saw her as a murderer and a sinner, and Paige was very frustrated by the fact.

Paige wanted to yell, to scream at them that she didn't kill Hazel Aden that they should care about her more than about Hazel— as selfish as that was. But Paige really needed them; she needed her parent's support at this time in her life. _They should be on my side, not Haze's_, thought Paige. So instead of screaming and throwing a temper tantrum, she politely excused herself from the table. Paige went back to her room, changed shirts, and told her parents she was going out.

Of course they didn't care. They didn't say one word to her before she left.

Paige decided to head to Jimmy's house. She figured maybe she could get more out of him about that night. Did the fight turn violent? Did anyone call while he was there? Why leave Hazel alone at all? Hell, maybe they could even grieve together. Paige just had so much on her mind; she wanted to share it with anyone that would listen.

But when she arrived at Wade's house, she saw three cop cars and two ambulances. Paige jumped out of her car and ran up to whom she realized as Officer Jake.

"What happened?" Paige asked. "What's going on!"

"Your buddy, Jimmy, was found dead. . . ."


End file.
